When I first started this modest blog back in October of the 2015-16 season it was put in place to chronicle and archive Kevin Durant’s free agency season in Oklahoma City. I thought the possibilities for an interesting sports book were very much in place. I still believe this to be true. I had no idea my father would be diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer six weeks later and be given around three months to live.
Little did the doctors know the fight my father had in him and as a family we made it until August 23rd, 2016 before my father passed and left this earth. The last sporting event we attended together in person was of course Game 6 in Oklahoma City versus the Golden State Warriors. My son gave us mid-court tickets near the floor as a Father’s Day present for both of us. It took everything I had to not cry during the game. Our mutual devastation at how the Thunder lost that game is still fresh in my memory and always will be.
But life goes on and you work thru the tough spots and become a better person in the long run.
I still believe there’s a great book to be written about what has happened in Oklahoma City from an NBA standpoint these past eleven years. I read Sam Anderson’s Boom Town and enjoyed it immensely, but it’s not a basketball book. It’s a written history of Oklahoma City and its continual struggles since the land run to come to terms with itself as a city. I would strongly recommend every serious Thunder fan read this book for background information and for the pure entertainment of the storytelling.
In preparation for this season I also read Mick Cornett’s The Next Great American City and Steven Adams’ My Life: My Fight. Again… two books I would suggest for every serious Thunder fan who aspires to go beyond Little Nick Gallo Sippy Cup status as a serious NBA fan.
My three favorite basketball books of all-time are 1 Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam, 2 Season on the Brink by John Feinstein, and 3 The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons. I don’t think any reader would be disappointed with any of these three iconic basketball books.
But because I live in a small market town like Oklahoma City.. clearly Breaks of the Game is my favorite of the three books. It brilliantly chronicles the Portland Trailblazers in the Bill Walton championship era and how quickly it all came apart when everyone was expecting a dynasty.
To me…this is the most compelling sports book I’ve ever read and I would think Oklahoma City Thunder fans would get some solace from reading the book.
There’s still five games and at least a first round playoff series left for the Oklahoma City Thunder in this season which was supposed to tell us if the championship window closed behind Kevin Durant when he bolted the Thunder to join Steph and Klay and create a dynasty in Oakland.
My mindset has changed dramatically since Durant’s Players Tribune exit on July 4th, 2016. My anger has morphed into an implicit understanding of the situation given he wanted to win a championship. But I do think he should move on after this season and see if he can win a ring in a different setting without the Splash Brothers.
Here we are three years later and the chances are somewhat reasonable the Thunder and Warriors could meet in the first round of the playoffs with the Warriors trying to Three Peat and the Thunder trying to prove Russell Westbrook can win a playoff series…period, let alone a championship.
Could this possibly be a fitting ending chapter to someone’s book on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s flirtation with becoming a championship city?